Gotham Knights has already begun shouting, “Vengeance!” from the rooftops on The CW.By clicking 'enter', you agree to GameSpot's But even the worst Gotham episode had more to offer than the inaugural installment of Gotham Knights. This isn’t the first time the world has seen an inexpensive TV show that turns on Gotham City without Batman. It’s a hodgepodge of bland characters spouting Batman easter eggs, with nary a trace of dramatic tension or visual flair in sight. It’s too timid ever to take real chancesor to be 41 minutes of goofy fun. Gotham Knights’ drab approach to Carrie Kelley is emblematic of everything that the show does poorly. Only the green-colored lens in her glasses recall her beloved Robin costume. Instead, she shows up fighting crime in a dark grey outfit that could belong to any costumed vigilante. Sadly, Gotham Knights shows no interest in recreating Kelley’s delightfully vibrant Robin regalia from the comics. The most disappointing of Gotham Knights’ visuals, though, comes with the appearance of Carrie Kelley’s Robin (Navia Robinson) (created by Klaus Janson, Lynn Varley, and Frank Miller) in the final 10-ish minutes of the episode. More frustratingly, anytime there’s a hand-to-hand combat sequence, Gotham Knights’ jerky editing and camerawork make understanding its action-let alone getting lost in it-impossible. For example, note the use of bright red in a funeral sequence awash in greys and dark blues. On the other hand, Gotham Knights looks dreadful from top to bottom.ĭirector Danny Cannon slathers on sickening layers of color grading and relies on uninspired uses of contrasting hues. However, the best of these shows find creative ways to capture some of the feel of the source material. As over a decade of ArrowVerse programming has shown, there’s a limit to recreating the look and feel of a bombastic superhero comic on a CW budget. By the end of the episode, it’s unclear why anyone would want to keep watching Gotham Knights’ ensemble.Įven staler, though, are Gotham Knights’ visuals. Unfortunately, it’s far less interested in introducing fresh beats and characters. In place of personality, Gotham Knights breathlessly piles on references to longstanding Batman players and places such as Harley Quinn and Arkham Asylum. Gotham Knights looks dreadful from top to bottom. Who wants to watch a TV show where everyone is impossible to tell apart? The Row siblings and Duela are noticeably interchangeable when it comes to how they speak and what they’re saying. The stale writing robs the show’s protagonists of discernible voices. ![]() She mostly comes off like a Hot Topic version of Chop Top from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2. Past that, though, she doesn’t leave much of an impression. I know Duela, The Joker’s daughter, hates her father. But if Joe Chill held a gun to my head, I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about Hayes’ personality or other unique traits. Turner Hayes, for instance, goes through an emotional whirlwind in the first act alone. Worse, the show’s focus on set-up leaves little time for shading its leading players or establishing the dynamic they might share. Still, even considering that, Gotham Knights crams itself with exposition to the point of self-sabotage. Big genre shows tend to go heavy on set-up in their first episodes. That’s Gotham Knights’ first 12 minutes, before the title screen even drops. Meanwhile, Hayes discovers his father’s Batcave. The Row siblings and Duela are the lead suspects after coincidentally breaking into Wayne’s office shortly after his murder. With the players (hastily) established, Gotham Knights drops its bombshell: Bruce Wayne has been murdered. Gotham Knights Oscar Morgan is bringing back the tactle-neck. ![]() It involves the other main ensemble players-Harper (Fallon Smythe) and Cullen Row (Tyler DiChara) (created by artist Greg Capullo and writer Scott Snyder), and Duela (Olivia Rose Keegan) (created by artist Irv Novick and writer Bob Rozakis). Soon, however, it starts to really feel like Gotham with the addition of a heist. ![]() Writers Natalie Abrams, Chad Fiveash, and James Stoteraux barrel through establishing High School Drama for Hayes. In this universe, Bruce Wayne/Batman adopted a child who has grown into a surly teenager named Turner Hayes ( Oscar Morgan). Gotham Knights begins with a whole lot of backstory. By the time the first episodes wrap, viewers will undoubtedly want to shine a signal into the sky to summon a better TV show. The audience follows a motley group of teens possessed of assorted connections to Batman characters, old and new. A brand-new CW production, it aims to be a “next generation” tale of sorts. That show, following in the footsteps of Gotham and Pennyworth: The Origins of Batman’s Butler, is none other than Gotham Knights. It’s a year ending with a number, so, once again, someone’s launching a live-action TV show rooted in Batman’s mythology but doesn’t star Batman.
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